214 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



grounds with clayey subsoil, also sandy plain lands. Orchards 

 "will not flourish in such situations nor on such soils. Dark, 

 rich, loam, intermingled with gravel, with subsoil of yellow 

 loam intermingled with gravel, is the most proper soil for an 

 orchard. A soil that naturally produces the oak and sugar 

 maple, will produce a thrifty orchard. Avoid lands and loca- 

 tions that bear the pine or hemlock, — they will not grow an 

 orchard. 



HOW AND WHEN TO PLANT AN ORCHARD. 



The best time to set out an orchard of young trees is in the 

 spring. Let it be done early — as soon as the frosts are well 

 out of the ground. Go to the nursery and select your trees. 

 Be careful to get thrifty, well-formed ones of such varieties as 

 you desire. Those of a larger size are the best. Never select 

 any less than six or eight feet high. They are more apt to live 

 and you will get an orchard sooner by so doing. Secure as 

 many roots on the young trees as possible, and be careful not 

 to wound or bruise them in taking them from the ground. 

 The holes should be dug in well-marked rows at intervals of 

 thirty or thirty-two feet apart. This is quite near enough for 

 the good of both trees and land. Spade out a hole twelve 

 inches deep and five feet or more in diameter. Cover the 

 botfbm of the hole with some well-made, rich compost, to the 

 depth of three or four inches. Now set the tree carefully in, 

 straightening out all the small roots and fibres, and draw in 

 the fine dirt upon them. After all the dirt is drawn in, place 

 over the whole the grassy turf, if on sward land, with the grass 

 side down, and if deemed necessary, secure the tree to a stake 

 by a piece of soft cord, or strip of cloth, and the thing is done. 



THE AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE YOUNG TREES. 



Do not meddle with them much the first year. If the season 

 is a dry one they may need watering, but they will require no 

 pruning. Young trees will bear but little pruning for a few 

 years. They need all their foliage to gather from the atmos- 

 phere important principles of growth. After the first year, a 

 compost, composed of well-rotted manure and wood-ashes, 

 should bo applied annually around and near thcni. It is an 

 excellent plan to wash the bodies and larger limbs at least once 



